How to evaluate, monitor and promote KOL marketing channel conversion?

With the rapid development of the Internet , we have entered an era where content is king, not an era where products are king. Various platforms, including but not limited to e-commerce , entertainment, information, and social networking , have started to use UGC , PGC and other content models to guide traffic. Especially with the rapid development of new media , KOL (Key Opinion Leader), or "key opinion leader", has made the content spread deeply among the crowd with its strong appeal, influence and credibility. This KOL effect has also been applied to business. Today, "KOL marketing " has become one of the important delivery channels for marketing activities .

So how to evaluate this channel effect and how to integrate KOL's own advantages and traffic points into the platform for content operation requires the use of data analysis to guide operations. The optimization focus of data analysis is to decompose the complex process with multiple factors, simplify the influencing process, and thus explore the key factors for improvement and optimization.

Here I will use an actual project case that I have worked on as an example to illustrate that I will combine user segmentation and funnel model analysis to conduct an in-depth analysis of the KOL marketing channel. The purpose is to monitor channel conversion data, adjust channel delivery strategies, and ultimately improve channel ROI.

For example, a music platform signed a contract with a KOL to produce exclusive content. This KOL’s Weibo channel attracted a low number of new users , and compared with the cost of investment and promotion , the ROI was low. So how should we evaluate this channel’s ability to attract new users and how to improve content consumption conversion?

How should this problem be analyzed?

      To ensure good conversions, you must first confirm that the followers you introduce are potential users who can be converted. Everyone knows that ten zombie fans are not as good as one live fan. Improving user quality is the prerequisite for ensuring conversion. Therefore, one of the purposes of this KOL Weibo channel analysis is to understand the real user situation of this KOL’s Weibo fans, so as to evaluate the conversion effect of this KOL on our exclusive content and attract new customers, so as to promote new traffic .

      Therefore, in order to acquire target users, we must first know the composition of this KOL’s Weibo fans. Is it a match with our target users? What are the reasons why this KOL has attracted so many fans? How can music platforms create exclusive content for KOLs to attract this KOL’s Weibo fans? What are the reasons for the low conversion rate of new customers in current channels? Besides Weibo, what other channels are there for fan activation?

1. The real composition of KOL Weibo fans and content consumption distribution

    Through the above division of Weibo fan groups and content consumption, it can be concluded that excluding invalid fans such as black fans and passers-by, the active fans of this KOL Weibo channel account for nearly 70% of the effective fans, and die-hard fans and true fans are the main users of content attention and consumption, thus confirming the KOL's content consumption capacity and ability to attract new users.

2. Combine the operation purpose, segment Weibo fans, and combine user portraits to help refine the operation - (Analysis method: user grouping)

      In the early stage of operation, when signing a cooperation agreement with a KOL, the operation colleagues have a certain estimate of the number of their core fans, so we want to see the relationship and difference between the actual situation of fans on the Weibo channel (fan composition) and the target users. The figure below is a connection diagram between KOL Weibo fans and music platform users. The black oblique line range is the music platform fans.

It should be noted here that when doing data analysis, it is necessary to confirm with the demand side the specific meaning and definition of each KPI indicator. The definition of terms in this article is as follows:

Core fans: Weibo fans who have consumed the content of this KOL, especially those who have watched/listened to the programs of this KOL;

Music platform fans (the overlapping part of core fans and music users in the above figure is the black diagonal area): users of a certain music platform are also Weibo fans and have consumed the exclusive content of this KOL on the music platform;

Potential new fans: users who have consumed content from this KOL but do not know that the music platform has exclusive programs for KOLs, or users who know that the music platform has exclusive programs but have not consumed the content.

According to user characteristic data, compared with other fan groups, fans of music platforms are mostly male, and most of them are college students. They like KOLs mainly because they like to listen to their encouragement and get spiritual satisfaction. At the same time, they need more help for postgraduate entrance examinations. To this end, in order to attract new customers through channels, targeted content can be provided to attract male college students.

In addition, I analyzed the user portraits of the exclusive columns of the music platform. Through comparison, the fan group of the Weibo channel has a high degree of match with the user portrait of our music platform column, showing a relatively strong potential for delivery. Therefore, the operations staff will continue to increase the delivery efforts of this channel, iteratively optimize the channel delivery effects, and monitor changes in ROI.

3. Evaluation of Channel Content Consumption Conversion Effect ——(Analysis Method: Funnel Model)

      The funnel data shows that the overall awareness of KOL programs and content consumption are relatively high, but the awareness of our music platform's exclusive programs and program content consumption in this channel are relatively low. The loss rates in these two links are relatively high, and there is room for optimization.

    No matter how perfect the pre-set plans and processes are, there will always be people who do not follow your ideas. At this time, you need to find the process bottlenecks and optimize the process and make up for it as soon as possible. Through in-depth analysis of each link in the funnel, we can find the causes in time and conduct marketing accordingly.

(1) Increase the awareness rate of exclusive programs on the platform : The conversion rate of exclusive programs on the music platform is relatively low. Among them, core Weibo fans are the target users of our platform. However, through data analysis, it is found that 61.6% of core fans do not know that our music platform has exclusive programs, which means that this channel is not well promoted. Therefore, it is recommended to increase the frequency of exclusive program releases on the Weibo channel. Since this KOL Weibo updates frequently, it is recommended to keep the message pinned on the day of the release of the exclusive program on the music platform to increase the exposure of the program;

(2) Improving the consumption conversion of exclusive programs on music platforms : In the conversion link of exclusive programs on music platforms, data analysis found that core fans were confused about the exclusive programs on music platforms and confused another program hosted by KOLs as an exclusive program on our platform. The main reason was that the program names were similar. The cognitive error rate was as high as 36.6%. Therefore, when promoting, it is necessary to clearly state the specific program name and program attraction released on that day in the content of the Weibo message to strengthen the program's recognition in the minds of fans.

Specific measures for channel optimization are: it is best to use A label for conversion links, and display it in blue for greater eye-catchingness: the color should be eye-catching, and the program copy should have a call to action to facilitate users to click directly.

(3) Find the reasons for non- conversion of users and optimize them in time : The content consumption conversion rate is relatively low. Through further investigation, the following reasons are obtained : installing music software is the main bottleneck for content consumption conversion, so it is necessary to strengthen the guidance of users to install software.

Optimization measures: Add an exclusive program trial listening function for music software on Weibo. For example, you can listen to the program for 1 minute, and you need to download the software to listen to the remaining content. This will guide fans to install and download the music software to achieve the purpose of attracting new users.

In short, KOL channel marketing cannot do without data analysis to guide operations, and it also cannot do without research and analysis to explore the causes. If channel marketing is divided into long-term and short-term, then the purposes of different stages will also be different. In the short term, data analysis can be used to identify problems in the conversion process and further research can be conducted to improve them and perform iterative optimization of the channels. In the long term, channel effectiveness monitoring can be performed to evaluate the conversion rate, new customer acquisition, etc. of this channel in different periods.

Author: Angelina_Zhang from Jianshu , authorized to publish by Qinggua Media .

Source: Jianshu Angelina_Zhang